HOULTON, ME-- Maine Green Independent candidate for the 2nd Congressional District Henry Bear noted today his opposition to the current tax reform plan being reconciled in Washington between recently passed House and Senate bills.

In particular, Bear noted the bills, supported by Bruce Poliquin, the current 2nd District congressman and Sen. Susan Collins, are widely unpopular in Maine. They do not represent the interests of common Mainers, he said, and run contrary to the future health and well-being of Maine citizens by raising taxes on those making less than $75,000.

Bear said opposition to the tax reform sounds like a collective pining for Green values. For example:

Greens believe in grassroots democracy: The Senate bill was voted on without a draft being publicly available, without time for representatives to read its 400 pages. The House plan similarly includes many lobbyist-written amendments that have had virtually no public hearings.

Greens believe in personal and global responsibility: By adding a structural deficit increase of $1 trillion, these plans are not responsible economics. They shift the burden of today's economy onto our children and grandchildren, making us beholden to foreign debt holders, and increasing global anxiety. The economic wish-casting — saying economic growth will mitigate he structural deficit is irresponsible.

Greens believe in future focus and sustainability: The Greens are fundamentally fiscally conservative by nature. The tax plans are not conservative pay-as-you-go economics. We cannot sustainably plan for the future when we are financing today's growth with tomorrow's money. This clearly threatens vital social safety nets like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. The bills are the equivalent of paying a mortgage with a credit card, something people often have to do today with stagnant wages and economic growth running to the top of the food chain.

While Bruce Poliquin cuts his and wife's taxes, the raising of the threshold for the estate tax insures that hard-working people of Maine not lucky enough to be born into wealthy families will not reap benefits from this so-called tax reform.

No one wants to pay taxes, said Bear, and he agrees in principle that we should be reducing the tax burden on the working class, but only “provided these tax cuts do not increase economic inequality, negatively impact essential public services including healthcare, public education, and infrastructure, and do not reward fossil fuel activities that contribute to carbon emissions and dangerous and destructive global warming.”

Voters tired of millionaires in Congress are encouraged to take a serious look at Bear for the 2nd District. Bear said he will use the position to return economic fairness to the country and Maine.